The best way to learn is to teach. I am having you divide yourselves into homework groups of 3-4 students so that when you are stuck on something or uncertain, each of you can help the others to learn. Most of you will achieve a greater understanding this way than by working completely on your own. Those of you who feel disadvantaged by this system can work independently, but should speak to me about it first.
I am letting you choose your own groups initially--let me know your group members by the first Friday of class--but I may have to change some of the groups as time goes on if there are students having trouble finding a group, or if any of the groups does not seem to be working effectively together.
You should first try all the problems on your own. After trying all the problems, meet with your group to discuss your thoughts and solutions. Each person in each group is expected to work on all the problems. You are not supposed to divide up the problems among group members, which would defeat the purpose of this plan. If I find out that you are dividing up the problems, I will regard this as cheating and will deal with it severely.
You are not allowed to consult solution manuals, other textbooks, past semesters' solution handouts, etc. If I suspect your group's homework used any such sources, or that you did not contribute to the group effort, I may give you an oral exam on the homework questions.
The spirit of these rules is that you should work on all the problems on your own (based solely on your notes and the textbook), using your group members and their notes to clarify points of difficulty. Give yourself enough time to do the problems carefully, and hand in only your own group's work. Disobeying the spirit of these rules will be penalized just as if you'd disobeyed the letter of the rules. You are expected to be familiar with the university's Student Honor Code
Every time a homework assignment is due, designate one group member as a recorder and at least one other member as a checker. The recorder will write up the group's solutions and hand them in. Any or all of the other group members can act as checkers. Rotate the recorder with each assignment, so that the recording responsibility is divided up as evenly as possible.
When your group hands in an assignment, indicate who the recorder is. Each person should put his name or initials next to every problem his/her worked on, even if solution was wrong. If any group member is not pulling his/her weight, or is putting his/her name down on problems he/she did not work on, the other group members should let me know. Every member of the group who worked on a problem will receive the same score for that problem, so it is in the best interest of the checkers to check well!
The homework you hand in must be neat . Work things out on scrap paper first, rewrite the solutions carefully on clean sheets of 8 1/2 '' x 11 '' paper, and staple the sheets together. I will not grade homework that is messy, that looks like it has been erased and written over, that has shreds of paper dangling from it because you ripped it out of a spiral-bound notebook, or that comes apart when I turn pages (which is what happens if you try to attach your papers by folding, tearing, and re-folding pieces of the corners). Homework is due at the beginning of class on the due date. Your stapling, etc., should be completed before you come to class, not at the beginning of class.
In general I will grade only some of the problems assigned. I will not tell you in advance which problems I will grade. You are expected to do all of them.